They are almost as transparent as my Magnepans and pin point image far better. Transparency is a big factor for me- they have a good dose of that "music materializing out of thin air" quality that good ribbions are known for. They are extremely cohesive from top to bottom and completely dissapear. I think they are better than the 22s in this respect. They also throw a wide and deep dipole like soundstage.
In terms of character, in my room they sound relaxed with a sweet top end that may be just a little laid back. I never am gritting my teeth trying to get through passages with a lot of HF information. They are never harsh sounding. They resolve small details very well but also are able to play back poor recordings and make them sound decent- this alone is a very rare trait at any price.
I have run them with various tube and SS integrateds and seperates. The best results I have had is with Arcam electronics. I have an a65 integrated which is 40wpc SS and powers them well. 20 tubes watts is not enough for FWIW- they sound flat- in fact it is not even close to enough power. A big 100wpc Aragon amp offered no more control or depth than the Arcam and had a slightly less appealing tone to me. Arcam is known to be "warmer" sounding gear and paired with the Quads which I would consider a tad cool and neutral it suits my tastes well.
The speaker is very much like the 12l but with more bass which seems to provide more information spatially in addition to a more muscular overall presentation. There is a ton of stuff written about the 12l, and the 21l/l2 gives up nothing in comparison so it might be worth a search or two on the 12l to get a baseline.
The pictures that you see online do no justic to the cabinets. My wife likes black as well and she really likes these. They may be smaller than you imagine, but they are finished extremely well and the new binding posts and plinth system are very well implemented. L1 series binding posts, while high quality suck to use.
The one qualm I have with them is that sometimes I wish vocals were presented a few inches higher. Tilt may be the key here and I am working on figuring out a good formula.
-Rob
In terms of character, in my room they sound relaxed with a sweet top end that may be just a little laid back. I never am gritting my teeth trying to get through passages with a lot of HF information. They are never harsh sounding. They resolve small details very well but also are able to play back poor recordings and make them sound decent- this alone is a very rare trait at any price.
I have run them with various tube and SS integrateds and seperates. The best results I have had is with Arcam electronics. I have an a65 integrated which is 40wpc SS and powers them well. 20 tubes watts is not enough for FWIW- they sound flat- in fact it is not even close to enough power. A big 100wpc Aragon amp offered no more control or depth than the Arcam and had a slightly less appealing tone to me. Arcam is known to be "warmer" sounding gear and paired with the Quads which I would consider a tad cool and neutral it suits my tastes well.
The speaker is very much like the 12l but with more bass which seems to provide more information spatially in addition to a more muscular overall presentation. There is a ton of stuff written about the 12l, and the 21l/l2 gives up nothing in comparison so it might be worth a search or two on the 12l to get a baseline.
The pictures that you see online do no justic to the cabinets. My wife likes black as well and she really likes these. They may be smaller than you imagine, but they are finished extremely well and the new binding posts and plinth system are very well implemented. L1 series binding posts, while high quality suck to use.
The one qualm I have with them is that sometimes I wish vocals were presented a few inches higher. Tilt may be the key here and I am working on figuring out a good formula.
-Rob